How To Conduct Minimalist Meetings For The Home Office

Working from home has its advantages, like avoiding distracting office "drop-ins". But it also means every meeting must be scheduled ahead of time, and if you telecommute it can also mean coordinating across time zones. Here are some tools to help make the process of getting together quick and painless.

Calling In

The beauty of VoIP is that it's free, free, free. Skype is a universally popular method of ringing, and it allows for multiple callers to be hosted in a single call.

If your call partner isn't technologically savvy, setting up a call-in number through one of the many available services. Instant Conference offers many levels of service free along with a one cent per minute charge.

For us, the worst part of trying to coordinate cross-time zones is finding a time that works for everyone. For one project involving people on the west coast, in Canada and in England, we were struggling to convert time zones and work out daylight savings.

With so many options available, it's hard to know which one works best. In the past we have typically used WebEx's 14 day free trial, combined with a call-in number or one of the VoIP solutions mentioned above.

What are your favorite services for coordinating and conducting meetings? Let us know in the comments below.